


The Eternal

by XIII4



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Anti-Hero Chloé Bourgeois, Bad Parent Audrey Bourgeois, Bad Parent Gabriel Agreste, Blood and Gore, But not at the beginning, Chloé Bourgeois Being Chloé Bourgeois, Chloé Bourgeois Knows, Chloé Bourgeois Needs a Hug, Chloé Bourgeois Redemption, Death, Gen, Kwami & Miraculous Lore, Kwamis Are Gods, Lila Rossi Redemption, Minor Character Death, Miraculous Holder Chloé Bourgeois, Mystery, Post-Episode: s03 Miracle Queen (The Battle of the Miraculous Part 2), Somewhat, Tragedy, she will be in the good alignment at least
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-13 16:48:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28656747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XIII4/pseuds/XIII4
Summary: After her latest blunder, Chloé Bourgeois walks around Paris seeking an outlet for her anger. She finds one, in the shape of a bracelet with a charm, and it unravels a rabbit hole about everything she knew about miracles, and as well as her own identity.
Relationships: Chloé Bourgeois & Original Kwami Character(s), Chloé Bourgeois & Sabrina Raincomprix
Comments: 25
Kudos: 39





	1. Prologue

* * *

**Prologue**

* * *

Chloé Bourgeois hated how things have turned out. How things have gone from wrong to worst in a mere day, how everything seemed to be stacked against her no matter how much she tried. Even the night light from the moon couldn’t calm her down, and the walk she had done around the city was not doing much either to calm her fury down.

It has been a couple of hours after her latest blunder, from the moment she had been crowned and later been dethroned by someone whom she had looked up to, but had shown nothing more than the very thing she had been taught to avoid. Her body burned with anger as she recalled back how Ladybug had simply ignored her and went for Tsurugi for help, showing how much of a liar she was when the hero told Chloé about not being able to be a hero anymore because of the security risk toward her family.

 _So much for being a hero,_ Chloé thought bitterly as she walked down the sidewalk, looking around to avoid people from seeing her in this pitiful state. _She was just like my mom at that moment, and she blames_ me _for wanting her gone._

That was something that Chloé found herself realizing. Ladybug had just acted like her mother back in that day, the first day where she had called Chloé extremely unexceptional and left for New York. It ached Chloé when she had seen the similarities and the cruel irony behind everything bad that has happened in her life.

Everyone she had looked up to doesn’t want anything to do with her.

A tear began to appear on her eye, but Chloé shook her head to avoid emotion from bursting forth.

 _Mom doesn’t want anything to do with me, completely ignores my existence,_ Chloé looked up at the sky. _Ladybug used me for her gain, and when I retaliate I am the bad guy. Hawkmoth also used me, he needs to pay for that as well._

The blonde heiress turned around the corner and fixed her hood, walking straight into an alleyway. Her footsteps echoed in the empty alley, and the birds flew above her head. Amongst those birds, she heard a crow. Confusion settled in as she turned around to look.

A crow in Paris was something that shouldn’t be possible unless someone managed to smuggle in one and the bird wanted to return home.

Regardless of it, the fact that a crow was nearby didn’t sit well with her for some reason. Her gut turned around slightly, a sense of dread washing over her body as she tensed.

“Great,” The blonde mumbled under her breath, her brow furrowing. “Something is going to happen now. Better get home and ask dad about not going to school for a while, until the water calms down.” Chloé didn’t want to deal with the fallout of Miracle Queen, something she had been proud of—to an extent.

She hurried her steps and her senses began to go haywire. Her eyes looked around as she felt static filling her ears, slowly increasing volume the more she walked in. Cold washed over her body, which began shuddering madly as panic quickly overtook her body. Adrenaline kicked in, and she began to run toward her home. Her eyes widened when she noticed something weird about the alleyway.

No matter how long she ran, she couldn’t get to the end.

Chloé stopped, to catch her breath, as her shuddering continued and the static on her ears was practically blasting at this point. A headache was rising, and she looked around trying to find a solution. She looked up and saw it.

The _crow_.

There was a crow—the one she had heard before, or maybe this was a new one—perched on the building next to her, looking at her with curious eyes as it flew rapidly toward a spot near the dumpster. It looked back to her again, this time, a certain allure made her walk toward the crow.

“What. . .?” Chloé voiced out, though she didn’t understand what she said.

There was a piece of jewelry on the beak of the crow, a bracelet with a charm. The crow leaned forward, and Chloé extended her open hand toward the bird, which dropped the bracelet onto her hand.

Familiar magic began to be expelled from the bracelet, and Chloé understood what she was currently holding in her hand. A smile appeared on her face, and even with the pain she was experiencing, she found herself being able to smile and chuckle as thoughts raced in her head, thoughts she couldn’t comprehend at all thanks to the static. 

She swiftly slid the bracelet into her arm, but nothing happened. A frown appeared on her face as she looked back at where the crow is, to find something. Or rather, nothing.

The crow is not there anymore.

Suddenly, a head-splitting headache appeared and blood became to leak from her body. Chloé began to cough blood as her vision turned black, her body became extremely cold and her breaths heaved greatly as she struggled for oxygen.

And like that, in a dirty alleyway, Chloé Bourgeois knew black.


	2. Chained by Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloé wakes up somewhere of no certain origin and meets with a Kwami. 
> 
> After, her life begins to change, and not exactly for the better.

* * *

**Chained by Death**

* * *

Consciousness slowly returning to her, Chloé’s blue eyes fluttered awake with a dim light gleaming from them. Her head was pounding, hurting, but she managed to get up from her sprawled position on the ground. The first thing she did after getting up, was looking at the moon to have an idea of how long she has been passed out.

However, the sight made her widen her eyes. The sky was absolutely black, unlikely anything she has seen before. The moon was completely white; without any gray hue, it should have as per her vision.

The buildings around her were also white—some of them a shade of white close to grey—with black thick outlines that let out a black mist to disperse around.

Looking around, Chloé’s mind finally kicked in completely, and panic began to settle on her body as she ran out of the alleyway toward the street. Her body was still cold, but nothing she couldn’t handle.

The static was still there, and her thoughts were drowned out by it.

A hissing sound came, and a crow flew above her. Chloé took a step but felt a sharp pain traveling from her feet toward her head. She looked at the ground and saw markings coming to existence, like footsteps leaving a dark trail behind.

The blonde looked at the crow, who landed on a nearby roof and looked at her, and nodded as though saying her to follow him.

The allure from before came, and Chloé began to follow the marks on the ground as she went behind the crow. Each one of the steps sending mild pain to her, but gritting her teeth the blonde resisted the urge to scream and complain. She had to find out what that Crow was, why did it bring her. . . wherever this place was.

After running around for a couple of minutes, passing puddles of dark water and the light of the moon falling on her, she arrived at a clearing where a giant tree looked over. It was as tall as the Le Grand, its trunk black as the sky above but the leaves were white, leaving behind a faint amount of black miasma as they fell to the ground.

The crow quickly went inside, and from a small but quick flash of light, a being appeared from the leaves.

A Kwami came to hover in front of her.

The Kwami was black, a small beak on its face and wings. It opened its eyes to show white sclera with black dots. The Kwami looked at her from toe to head, as though looking for something or mere curiosity, before it began to speak. It looked like a crow.

_“Why did you take so long?”_

Chloé frowned, _what does that mean?_ She thought, startled that she could finally hear her own voice inside of her mind. The static had receded, finally allowing her to think clearly.

The Kwami blinked, confused. _“Did you not hear me? I asked why did you take so long in calling me.”_

Chloé furrowed her brows deeper _. I don’t know what you are talking about! Stop trying to confuse me!_

The Kwami blinked once again and nodded to himself. _“So that’s how it is. . .”_ It mumbled under its breath before looking at Chloé directly into the eyes. _“What is your name, young one?”_

_Chloé Bourgeois._

The crow Kwami perked up at hearing her name, its eyes are filled with joy of some kind, and yet she could identify lingering sadness beneath them _. “I should introduce myself then, I am Crown, The Kwami of Death.”_

 _The what now?_ Chloé blinked, but shook her head and talked. _I didn’t think there could be a Kwami of Death. . . why aren’t you in the miraculous box? I thought every single miraculous was there._

 _“Not quite,”_ Crown shook his head. _“There is the Miracle box, another box that is in America and the container for myself and . . . my siblings. Unlike the others, my siblings and I are to be called when a miraculous has been used for evil deeds for far too long and eliminate the threats that will come.”_

 _Threats? What kind of threats?_ Worry began to come, Chloé noticed Crown pointing at her hand, which she extended and the Kwami let itself land on the palm.

 _“Do you really think that the Kwamis wouldn’t have a way to try and pry themselves off someone they don’t like?”_ Crown asked. It made sense, once Chloé pondered about it, having a way to get back at the one using you for their own gain and evil deeds seemed like a good thing. _“If I am correct, then I was sent to you not because you called me, but because of the threat that is already on the move.”_

 _So, I’ll be able to deal with the threat with your help?_ Chloé wondered.

_“Correct.”_

The blonde smiled widely.

This was it, an opportunity to be more exceptional than Ladybug, with a Kwami outside of the Miracle Box. She already imagined everything that was going to happen, and she can already savor the tears of Hawkmoth and bask in the glory of being the one who defeated him, and a threat that not even Ladybug is aware of.

 _“Are you sure this is what you want?”_ Crown asked. _“Once you use me for the first time, there is no going back as you were before.”_

 _I can be exceptional and better than both ladybug and mom, what more can I ask_? Chloé said, grinning, a dangerous gleam on her eyes.

_“Very well. Let me tell you about the threat—”_

_I don’t care what is the threat, I will take it head-on!_

Crown went silent but shook his head and murmured. _“Just like always," and then he spoke out loud. “Ok then, the words are. . .”_

* * *

In a dark and desolate void, a being hovered in the vast darkness. Its body was broken into five pieces, each one of them are dimly lit as miasma covered them. Silence reign above anything else, and the feeling of despair, anger, and sadness were the only thing the being could feel, for even its mouth had been shut a long time ago. 

Its eyes were closed, waiting to wake up from the never-ending nightmare, and its feelings were drained until nothing but darkness was left in its wake.

The void had never been a merciful place. No matter who went inside of it, once you went inside, there was no way to wake up. The only way to do so is very difficult to do in the first place. 

But, out of the blue, one of the pieces lit up. 

The piece—the head—moved toward the center of all the darkness as it slowly began to open its eyes. 

Golden eyes looked around and narrowed once it spotted the rest of the pieces.

**_Finally. . ._ **

* * *

Waking up in the real world had been tough, as her body screamed of pain and the puddle of blood beneath her had practically soaked her clothes. Luckily, she had been wearing dark clothes to blend with the darkness, but that didn’t help her anger at the dirt and filth on her expensive clothes.

Looking at the miraculous on her arm, she smiled.

“Are you there, Crown?” Chloé called out, patiently waiting.

 _Yes,_ a soft voice spoke inside of her mind. Her heart began to beat, happy that what she experienced had not been a hallucination. _Are you going to transform now? Because the threat you need to take care of is somewhere nearby._

The blonde nodded and whispered. “Crown, dead walking.”

A black miasma covered her body before dispersing as quickly as it came. Black clothes clad her body, ragged in certain places that would leave her body exposed to fatal attacks. A coat above her costume, the tail flapping at the wind that blew against her. A white boney mask over her eyes.

There was a sword strapped to her thigh, wooden hilt, and rusty metal in a single edge sword that barely resembled a katana. The length of the blade was slightly bigger than Chloé’s forearm, but it looked sharper than anything the blonde had seen before.

Smiling, the blue-eyed girl jumped into the night, moving through the rooftops being careful to not be spotted by anyone. Being chased down by the heroes would be bad, and she didn’t want Hawkmoth to try and recruit her again, though she might as well try to lure him to take him out and take the credit quickly. Still, she wanted Ladybug to have problems—to suffer, for some time.

As Chloé traveled through the roofs, a small spike of dread came to her mind. Her eyes narrowed, and she looked around, a bloody scent filling her lungs as she moved toward the place where it was coming from.

 _What is that scent?_ The blonde thought, worried.

 _Is how you can look for the threat._ Said Crown nonchalantly. _The mess they leave behind is quite clear for you to find once you use me._

Furrowing her gaze, Chloé began to worry about that implication but she quickly shook her head, because it wouldn’t matter as much when she is done with that threat. She can already begin to imagine her life as an exceptional person, someone people will remember for protecting them and ending Hawkmoth’s reign.

**_That’s. . . not how. . . it works._ **

Chloé halted as she arrived at the nearest rooftop, face confused as she looked around for the source of the voice. Then, she asked Crown. “Were you talking to me?”

There was silence, and then the voice of Crown came. _No. you should focus on the matter at hand first, you can think about the voice later._

Confused, Chloé heeded the words nonetheless. The scent was getting closer and closer, and once the blonde arrived in front of an abandoned warehouse near the outskirts of the city, she knew something was wrong. Chloé didn’t know what exactly this threat was, but she could guess that she had to only defeat something and all with be done with. She takes the credit and lives a happy life being exceptional as she wants.

Chloé never thought, that once she went inside of the warehouse, she would be horribly wrong.

Blood frozen in her veins as her eyes widened. Bile rose from her stomach as she had to refrain from vomiting at the sight. Her body paralyzed and her breath was heaving in panic, but she forced herself to calm down as she looked around, eyes trembling with fear.

There were bodies everywhere she could see. Bodies, limbs, and even organs around while the blood painted the warehouse in red. The stench of blood filling her lungs as the copper could be already tasted on her taste buds. The sound of flesh ripping apart, being chewed and swallowed, came to her ears.

Chloé looked at the corner and saw something moving. Someone—or something—was eating a body like if it was yesterday’s meal. The being perked up, and whirled its head around to face her. The face of a man—was it a man? She didn’t know—looking at her with so much hatred that the blood lust almost made her faint on the spot.

Her legs felt like spaghetti, and once the being stood up, Chloé managed to steel herself.

 _What. . . is that?_ Chloé managed to ask with wide eyes.

 _That, my dear friend, is the threat._ Crown informed, nonchalantly. _A Debacle born out of wrath._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


	3. Bound to Death

* * *

**Bound to Death**

* * *

_What—?_

Chloé’s conversation with Crown was cut off when the being—the Debacle—roared all of a sudden, shaking her very core. The Debacle lunged, its hands went back and quickly shot forward like a whip, which Chloé barely avoided by ducking to the side as she unsheathed the sword and readied herself for battle.

The blonde steeled herself as the Debacle quickly looked at her and attacked once again, making Chloé move around the warehouse, avoiding the pillars that support it as she tried to comprehend what was happening.

The blonde lurched forward and sidestepped when the Debacle whipped again, using the sword and swinging it down to cut off the hand. It growled in pain, but Chloé, whose body was moving on its own, quickly used this advantage and swung the sword once again toward the chest.

However, it quickly jumped backward, grabbing its hand and staring at her with more rage in its eyes. Bloodlust increased, and sweat began to pour from Chloé's forehead.

The eyes of the blonde widened and blinked as she looked at the sword in her hands. _What happened?_ Crossed her mind, but as soon as she tried to ask Crown, the Debacle once again lunged for her head. Sidestepping, Chloé rolled and lunged forward as she slashed its arm before kicking it away from her. 

The blonde quickly looked around, her mind focusing on things other than the fact that her body is moving on its own.

Eyes wandered around, looking at all the death and bodies around. One stood the most, a breathing person was still there, just behind the Debacle. If Chloé managed to save him, she would be exceptional for saving someone against the monstrosity that is the Debacle, who still managed to get her to almost puke at the sight of it.

Unluckily for her, the Debacle quickly moved beside the person and with tendrils of its own body, move it in front of it as a shield. Chloé narrowed her eyes, steeling herself. She had to move and get the man away from the beats as soon as possible.

 _Ok, go for the legs, and once it is distracted, grab the man. Simple!_ Chloé thought with determination, but something happened.

Her body moved once again, and against Chloé’s wishes, beheaded the man before whirling around and swung toward the torso, managing to make a big injury to the Debacle, which writhed in pain on the ground as it moved away from her.

Chloé stared in abject horror at the body of the man who she was supposed to save, bile rising and puked from her body as she fell on her knees.

 _What? What? What? What?_ Repeated itself in Chloé’s mind as she stared at the man she’d just killed. A soft growl from the side and Chloé whirling her head saw as the Debacle grabbed another body—another living body she had missed—and used it as a shield once again. Her body moved again, _No! No! No! Stop it! We have to save them, not kill them!_ Chloé screamed at her body.

But it didn’t matter.

It moved on its own, and as her mouth opened, her voice spoke.

**“Reckoning,”**

Black miasma rose from the blade, pure darkness being expelled from the sword as Chloé’s body raised it for a single, last strike. Chloé tried to move her body, but she was seeing everything as if she was not in control, like if she was seeing everything through a VR. 

It was a scary and horrific feeling, and she tried her best to command her body.

It was too late, though.

Her body thrust the blade forward, piercing both the man and the Debacle as it cried in pain. The man ceased to breathe as blood poured from his mouth, and the Debacle tried to get away but Chloé’s body was having none of it.

It moved and quickly readied the sword to stab the Debacle, but the beast moved around to stare at her, suddenly its visage turned more human than before.

“ **P** l **e** a **s** e. . .” The beast moaned, eyes tearing blood as it stared at her with pleading eyes. “ **I** w **a** n **t**. . . t **o** b **e** f **r** e **e**.” Green eyes gleamed, yearning for release.

She plunged the sword into the ground, the blade passing through between the eyes of the Debacle as it finally died.

Chloé stood there, watching as the body of the Debacle turned into ashes, its finals words repeating inside of her brain over and over. Then, she looked back, at all the bodies that are littered around and cold washed over her. She saved none. All of them are dead, and she killed two of them. She hadn’t done an exceptional job.

The blue-eyed girl quickly said. “Crown, dead resting.”

The transformation dropped, and she was back in her bloody clothes. The moonlight shone through the windows as Chloé quickly glared at the miraculous with some weakness, some sense of loathing and guilt appearing.

“What was that?” She asked, her voice quivering. “Why did my body not react to my thoughts? Why couldn’t I control my own body!?”

 _“What do you mean?”_ Inquired the Kwami, curiosity in his voice. Crown didn’t understand what Chloé was saying, and it made her angrier.

“I didn’t want to do anything of that!” She waved at their surroundings, at all the bodies. “An exceptional person wouldn’t just kill people—!”

 _“Who said anything about saving people?”_ Crown asked seriously with a cold tone, so different from his nonchalant words, making her stop.

Chloé swallowed, nervous at the sudden change in the voice of the Kwami. Her body trembled as she continued to look around at the corpses of the people. Nervous laughter bubbled from her throat as she shook her head, trying to think of it all as a bad dream.

“Good joke, good joke.” Chloé gulped, trying to keep her smile, her face as serious as she could possibly muster. “Now, really, how am I supposed to be exceptional if I kill people? People would assume I am a monster and would hate me, I want to be exceptional in their eyes. Be more than Ladybug and my mom, better than them. _This_ is not _better_.”

Crown was silent, before sighing. He spoke once again, as though he was not surprised by this outcome. _“It seems that you have mistreated my words. Young one, I am the Kwami of Death. I don’t save people. I kill them, no matter who they are. Everyone is the same, I’ll always arrive.”_

“What?” Chloé didn’t understand what Crown was saying, which the Kwami picked on and continued his explanation.

 _“These Debacles are born out of the misery of the Kwami,”_ Crown said, ignoring Chloé’s confusion. _“Due to human selfishness, the Debacles are born and try to kill anything and anyone who comes across them, blindly and without care. They are the representation of the Kwami’s anger at humanity, and this time Emotions and Transmission are angry, emotion worst of the two. Now, the people are at risk because of it, everyone, even children. They can be turned, not saved, and death is the only escape. The sins of Mankind are going to catch up someday, and it is already happening.”_

Chloé looked at the spot where the Debacle once was. her eyes widening in fear, hysteric tears already spilling as she tried to keep up the nervous smile to hide her fear and horror. She deflected, her brain trying to digest the information. “Then what about my body, why didn’t it heed my commands?”

_“Who says it didn’t?”_

Her smile froze as she felt a light trickling from her arm. _What?_

_“Who says it wasn’t your thoughts about killing them? I am the sword, but you are the knight who wields me. The only reason they died is that you wanted them dead.”_

Chloé snapped, anger pouring out like a volcano. “What do you mean by that!? Do you think I am stupid or what!? How could I wish to do something so heinous, so unexceptional by my own volition? Don’t lie! I should have known better than to trust a being of Death. I will be exceptional without you, then.”

She tried to pry off the miraculous from her arm, to find out that the miraculous wasn’t there anymore. It had disappeared, but she could still feel Crown’s presence within her body, mind, and soul.

Then, she remembered something. Words that appeared once again inside of her mind.

“Crown.” She called out, anger disappearing as she blankly stared at the arm. There was a tattoo there, though, where the miraculous should’ve been.

_“Yes?”_

“Where is your miraculous?”

 _“I told you, didn’t I?”_ Chloé could feel Crown smiling, the moonshine falling onto her pale face _. “Once you’ve accepted me, there is no going back.”_

* * *

Roger Raincomprix felt dread at seeing the warehouse from afar, grimacing as he was told by his companion about the circumstances surrounding the call they’d received when the morning came.

He had presumed this day would’ve been like any other, but as soon as everyone in the police station was called, or at least those who were free, he knew something was wrong.

He got out of the car, the sun kissing his skin as he fixed his cap. His gaze looked around, watching multiple police officers, many of whom he had worked with before, being disturbed and sick from something. Dread filled his gut as he walked up to them.

“What happened?” He asked, not really wanting an answer.

An office walked to his side. “It is better if you saw it with your eyes. Come.” He signaled to follow him, but before Roger could begin to walk, someone grabbed his arm.

He looked back and saw a policewoman, who he recognized as the one who is in a position for a promotion, who looked at him with worry in her eyes.

“Have you watch horror movies?” She asked, narrowing her eyes.

“Yeah. . .?” He really didn’t know what to answer. He had watched many movies over the years, some of them were of horror but many of those weren’t really good, to begin with.

“Ok.” She nodded, sighing. “Just. . . look away if you can’t handle it.”

“Bring some water here!” Someone shouted.

Roger looked at the source of the voice and saw one of the newbies being comforted by the veterans, who looked sick too and almost throwing up. The policewoman quickly moved out of the way and walked over there as Roger began to walk toward the warehouse.

The smell of copper already brought him a bad feeling, but he steeled himself and walked inside, only to find a nightmarish sight.

A sole thought came to find, which he voiced out without knowing it.

“What kind of monster would do this?”

* * *

 _There is nothing interesting. . ._ Chloé thought as she flickered the channels on her T.V, trying to distract herself from the events that happened before. it didn’t help much that Crown was nonchalantly about taking a human life, but Chloé should’ve guessed that it was obvious, he was the Kwami of Death after all.

A ray of sunlight came from her balcony, and the blonde blinked for a few seconds. It was already morning, which meant she hadn’t slept in all day. She got up from her bed and moved toward the mirror on the make-up desk, and saw her horrible state in the mirror.

Dark bags under her eyes, her skin pale and her hair was messy, pointy at the edges. It was a way no one would’ve thought Chloé Bourgeois being like, but there is a first time for everything, and she truly hoped that nothing more fucked with her this day. She lifted her arm, the tattoo moving like a snake, tendrils of black miasma floating into the air before dispersing and disappearing.

“Mademoiselle, are you awake?” Jean’s voice came from the other side of the door.

The blonde turned her head toward the door, before speaking. “Yeah.” Her voice was colored with tiredness.

“Can I come inside?” The butler asked.

“You can.”

A soft click came from the door, and it opened revealing the figure of Jean, Chloé’s trusty butler. He walked over to her, concern all over his face as he saw her state, which Chloé blankly stared at him, as though trying to communicate her misery.

“What happened, mademoiselle?” Jean inquired, furrowing his gaze. “Why do you look like you haven’t slept at all?”

Chloé sighed, rubbing her eyes. “Because I didn’t. The events of yesterday kept me awake.” She admitted, there was no point in keeping things from Jean. Though, he seemed to not be able to see the tattoo. She will ask about it later.

“Ah,” Jean softly gasped. His face turned sour but quickly regain his usual expression. He patted Chloé’s head. “Don’t worry, mademoiselle. I assume that you will request not attending school today, am I right?” he received a nod. “Very well. I will wait for you and we can request for you to take the day off.” He walked out.

A moment of silence, then. _“He seems like a good man.”_

Chloé did her best to not scowl at Crown’s words, she had spent the last five hours doing so, with an hour after to simply come into terms with the mess she had gone into.

Instead, she simply said. “Yeah, he is.”

_“I do wonder why you feel more attached to him than your parents, was he the only one there for you?”_

Her words halted before she could speak them, Chloé pondered about the words of the Kwami, and bitterness appeared from her very soul. 

Adrien had pretty much replaced her with the rest of the classmates, her mother had pretty much ignored her existence after staying in Paris and her dad was giving all of his attention to her mother, which was probably fair considering that Chloé’s mother never spent too much in Paris—always looking for an excuse to get away from her daughter.

“Yes. . . and I want this day to be over.” And with those words, Chloé quickly moved, bathed herself, and change clothes. She didn’t bother to put something expensive on, only whatever made her look good and still look that is expensive. Make-up was also forgotten, as she was sure she wouldn’t have to go.

Going out of the room, Chloé asked with a curious voice as she noticed that Jean was not there. “Why didn’t he comment on the tattoo?”

_“Because he is not bonded with me. Only you can see it, and others who match the magical powers of the Kwamis. Besides, why would I make it so that anyone could know that there is something wrong with the person I am bonded with? It would lead to their lives being more complicated.”_

The girl titled her head at the words of the crow Kwami. It made sense, in a way. Not showing that something is wrong is a way to make everything go smoothly, though in the end everything will become known. In the case of Kwamis, Chloé knew exactly that showing magic to people would lead them to do reckless things in the end with the mind of gaining the power to practically rule over people. Like she had done with the Bee miraculous.

Sighing and shaking her head, Chloé moved toward her father’s room, knowing well that Jean was already trying to bargain her stay on the house for this day. She heard some voices — somehow as she didn’t know exactly how — as she walked closer and she picked up Jean’s voice.

“Monsieur, Mademoiselle, please reconsider—!”

“Ugh! Who is this again? Why is he trying to give me orders? Andre!” Audrey’s voice shouted.

“Jean, why exactly are you asking us this? You know we have to get the public’s approval, and that means punishing Chloé for what she had done, as much as it pains me.” Chloé’s father said, his voice nervous layered with authority.

Chloé leaned against the wall beside the door, hearing everything unfolding from inside the room. She felt something stirring from within her and wondered if Crown was somehow angered or bothered by such things they are hearing at the moment. She would think about it later, as the conversation continued.

“Monsieur, I can understand that, but please allow Mademoiselle to have this day of rest, you can punish her later.” Jean’s voice pleaded.

“No can do, Jean whatever! You know that good PR is the best thing we need at the moment!” Audrey’s voice retorted, annoyed.

“But—”

“It doesn’t matter Jean, as much as I love Chloé, she crossed a line this time. I will think about giving her a bodyguard later, but she needs to understand that she crossed a very serious line, a line not even I know how to fix once again.”

A grumbled “Very well” before the door opened and Jean walked up. The frustration on his face very visible that Chloé didn’t need to think much to see it. The butler coughed before turning around, startled once he saw Chloé looking at him leaning against the wall. A sad smile across his face as he sighed in defeat.

“I assume that you heard everything.”

“Only the last part. What is the result?”

That made Jean raised an eyebrow, wondering if Chloé hadn’t heard everything, but the look on the girl showed more words to answer his unspoken question. Clearing his throat, he began to speak. “Your father wants you to attend school today, no matter what. He also wishes for you to not use your status anymore, as he will make it as no matter what happens your words will hold no weight but is considering hiring a bodyguard for you.”

Chloé nodded and swallowed her saliva. Her nails digging into her flesh as it drew blood, her anger at her family rising by the second before Jean patted her head, and as though she had been thrown into cold water, her anger went away. She looked up at Jean, who smiled sadly at her.

“Don’t worry, I’ll try to be there for you.” He said. “Besides, I think I’ll be able to argue who gets hired as your bodyguard. Leave it to me to get someone that won’t try to harm you.”

The blonde looked at the butler and gave a tired smile. “Sure.”

Both of them walked toward the elevator, and Chloé didn’t notice that the injury she made herself on the palm of her hand had already been healed.

The only worry in her mind was surviving the day.


	4. Memento Mori

* * *

**Memento Mori**

* * *

_He was dead. C was pretty sure of that, it was the truth, after all. She had never actually seen someone die before, but there was no denying the reality before her eyes._

_She had never seen someone burning at a stake before._

_The night sky was perfect to show the burning visage of her father, being acclaimed by they, who were around him, as some kind of evil lord. The Order of the miraculous, as they’d called themselves when they arrived and confronted her father, had defeated him and humiliating him for something he had done a long time ago._

_Though, she didn’t know what truly had happened, as she was hiding during the whole fight. Not like she wanted to know, for the sight already brought tears of anguish flowing out of her eyes._

_Gritting her teeth as to not let out a single sound, C watched as her father moved his head aimlessly, clinging to dear life, and he glanced at her general direction, but he couldn’t see her, as his eyes were gouged out._

_Anger bubbled up, but she kept it down, not wanting to be discovered._

_The Order of the Miraculous had done this._

_Her father, who had done nothing bad in her lifetime and even gave up his dastardly ways when she was born, was burning at the stake when they could just have talked it out. He’d been right, humanity’s emotions didn’t settle well with the miraculous, they should have never meddled with things beyond their comprehension._

_“Let’s end this!” The Black Cat announced, raising his palm toward the clear sky. “Cataclysm!” He let out, like a victory cry that his companions echoed alongside him._

_The voice of the Cat carried over in echoes into the night, as C felt her eyes widen in shock and abject horror. Black particles gathered around the hand, and he grabbed the rope vaguely attached to an unscathed piece of wood touching the stake. The black matter traveled as swiftly as water, devouring and vaporizing everything it touched. Soon enough, it reached the fire and consumed it, too._

_Not long after, her father was no more._

_“The Rogue is gone!” The Ladybug declared, the rest let an outcry of happiness. “His presence will no longer haunt us!”_

_“Let us go back and celebrate this event!” The Black Cat smiled. A genuine smile of happiness and relief on his face was shared by his friends._

_The Horse said words that could not be heard by C, and a portal appeared beside him. The Miraculous holders quickly went through the portal, and the Black Cat gave a glance behind at the remnants of the battle. He walked through, and right after him, the Horse went inside._

_The portal closed, and silence befell the scenario. The black-haired girl moved slowly, grief clinging to her, weighing her down as she felt the death of her father lingering in the area. The tattoo in her hand writhing with wrath, seething with anger at the thought of an unnatural death happening so close to her._

_“Dad. . .” Her voice broke, as sobs began to come through without a filter. “Why. . .?”_

_It was something unfathomable for her. An Order meant to preserve peace had just broken hers, just because of something her father did many decades ago. He didn’t even have that much time left yet, less than five years, and he had died in such a horrible way._

_The girl looked down, at the scorched grass._

_All the death that happened because of some Order that couldn’t let go of the past, that couldn’t let an old man have his final years of peace with his daughter. C gritted her teeth, eyes shining as fierce as the moonlight as blazing fury could be seen in her eyes. Anger finally bubbled out, as tears ran down her cheeks._

_A wail of rightful anger escaped her lips, as the tattoo writhed in sadness in her arm. A flash appeared on her hand, and a small sword, rusty but long enough to pierce the heart of an adult, rested on her palm. Her grip caused her knuckles to go white as she looked at the remnants of her house._

_Her lovely house, which had been once so full of **Life** had been destroyed, until only **Death** remained at the hands of the miraculous holders, the ones from the Box of Miracles._

_All because of the miraculous._

_Because of them being used by humans._

_Because of them, her father was gone forever, to never smile and play with her, to eat with her, to train her, and teach her about life._

_They need to pay._

_“They’ll pay.” C gritted out, having made up her mind already. “I’ll hunt them, until the end of times.”_

_The sword lit up in agreement for a second._

_“I’ll destroy the Order of the Miraculous. Until there is no one left alive to tell the tale.”_

* * *

“… _Chloé!_ ” Sabrina whispered into Chloé’s ear, snapping the blonde from the trance she had been.

Shaking her head, the blue-eyed girl looked around, confused and dazed, as she watched the rest of the classroom leaving the room, some of them throwing glances at her, most prominent Dupain-Cheng and Adrien, and Chloé wondered if Rossi, too, threw her a glance.

Quickly taking out her phone, Chloé watched the time. Time to go home. “What? It is already the end of classes?” She asked Sabrina, dumbfounded.

“You have been staring at the board this whole time Chloé,” Sabrina said, nudging her friend with her elbow. Sabrina was worried about Chloé, as her expression bled into great concern. “You haven’t been ok since this morning? You haven’t been paying attention to anything, not even what everyone had said to you during lunch.”

“Really?” Now Chloé thought about it, she truly didn’t remember anything of what had happened in the day. it bothered her, not remembering an entire day for some reason. She had known that ever since yesterday, nothing would be the same for her since the conversation with Crown expressed as much, but this was truly worrying.

_Besides, what was that dream about?_

As though he was reading her thought, and he was, Crown spoke. _“What you saw was the memories of my first user and last user.”_

_Your first and last user? Seen her memories?_

Chloé felt the Kwami nod within her. _“Correct, her name is not important at the moment, but she was the first to wield me as well as the one who had the container where my siblings and I resided.”_

 _What happened to her? Why am I seeing her memories?_ Chloé asked, and noticed Sabrina poking her on the ribs. The blonde moved and got out of her desk, allowing Sabrina to get out, too.

 _“Not important, and I suspect that the reason you are seeing it is because of something beyond your own control. I have my theories, but. . . I won’t say them until I have confirmation.”_ Crown said, quickly cutting the connection between the two, and Chloé no longer felt the Kwami dwelling within her.

 _Come back!_ Chloé demanded, but when he didn’t answer, the blonde simply sighed before grabbing her purse.

“Chloé!” Sabrina called out, waving a hand in front of Chloé.

The heiress blinked, looking at her friend. “What happened?”

“Are you sure you are ok?” Sabrina raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, now, let’s get out of school.”

Chloé walked to the door, Sabrina walking right behind her. Both of them stepped outside of the classroom and found the school mostly empty. Relief overwhelmed Sabrina, not willing to bear down the many stares she did in the morning once again. Though there were still some people left glaring at them, but Chloé ignored them, having been trained in the art of ‘Ignoring everyone who you don’t consider important enough’.

Unfortunately, however, Sabrina wasn’t taught how to deal with that. Swallowing down her saliva, the ginger-haired girl grabbed Chloé’s hand as she tried to ignore the growing stares of hatred thrown in their direction, and while Sabrina knew they were sent to Chloé and not her, it didn’t help her concerns.

“Move, ignore them,” Chloé whispered to Sabrina, who quickly nodded as both of them left the school.

They walked toward the Eiffel Tower, people walking around going about their day. Both girls walked up to a bench and Chloé sat, as she felt a growing pain inside of her head. The blonde massaged her temple, looking as Sabrina received a message on her phone.

Sabrina’s eyes widened for a second before she typed out something on her phone. “Dad wants me home as soon as possible, apparently there has been something that happened to put him like this, and I am worried about that. But I am also worried about. . . you know. . .” She motioned both her and Chloé.

“Oh, you are talking about Miracle Queen,” Chloé said, nonchalantly, not bothered by the implications.

Sabrina winced slightly the tone of her friend—because they are, no matter what anyone says—and coughed into her fist. “Well, yeah. No doubt word has already reached him about Miracle Queen, and I know he will try to use this to make me no longer hang out with you.”

Chloé said nothing at this news, already having prepared herself mentally for the occasion. She asked. “What are you going to do?”

“Eh?”

“It is obvious that your father will ask you that, it is ridiculous to not consider it. So what are you going to do? Heed his words or ignore them?”

Sabrina was silent for a moment, before fixing her glasses. “I’ll do my best.” That was all she said, and Chloé nodded in understanding.

Chloé got up, watching the sun already past noon. She walked up to Sabrina and the both of them started walking toward Sabrina’s house, the ginger-haired girl giving Chloé a rundown of everything that had happened on the day.

The blonde had flashes of images through her mind as Sabrina spoke. The glances of people, the look of victory on Lila’s face, and the dismay of Adrien before going to sleep in the classroom. The latter already gave her a bad feeling about the future, but she didn’t know exactly why. But it wouldn’t matter that much, as long as she managed to salvage one friendship, Chloé is sure her mentality wouldn’t be damaged.

Then, from her pocket, a sudden vibration was felt by her. Sabrina took out her phone, and her eyes widened before an explosion was heard going off in the distance. Debris flew across the sky and part of the wreckage fell straight beside both of the girls.

 _“A debacle has been born.”_ Crown’s voice whispered, and Chloé was suddenly reminded of the events with the last one. Her skin paled, but she shook her head and looked up to see Ladybug and Chat Noir fighting against an akuma.

“Go to your house,” Chloé said to Sabrina, who looked at her confused. “Don’t worry about me, go to your home, now!”

Sabrina nodded hesitantly before taking off toward her house, a piece of debris falling near her. The blonde looked around, destruction slowly brewing and quickly took off in the opposite direction. The stench of death quickly reached her lungs, and she stopped dead in her tracks. A chill ran down her spine as she looked at the Seine, a growing sense of dread festering deep within her. A quick movement from the corner of her vision, and it disappeared in toward the Seine.

Chloé looked around and found no one nearby. Sighing to steel herself, she whispered under her breath. “Crown, Dead Walking.”

She jumped over the railing, falling on the concrete ground, and quickly ran in a flash of black light. Chloé ran toward the sewers, as the scent grew stronger and stronger, vile rising from her throat once again. The scent was too much for her, and she threw up at the side, clutching her stomach. Her intestines were hurting, ever so slightly, but the feeling of pain was uncomfortable.

 _“So, that’s how it is,”_ Crown muttered. “ _Gluttony, now. Be careful, for the coming sight may shock you.”_

Chloé didn’t like those words but moved either way.

Going further into the sewer, Chloé watched the blood painted walls and hands parks that moved toward somewhere, and the implications didn’t sit well with Chloé. Bones littered the ground, and a puddle of blood soon came to her vision. Unsheathing her blade, Chloé took one last breath prepared herself, taking one step, she came to see—

_Nothing?_

Chloé furrowed her eyes in confusion and walked a bit deeper. Her foot breaking a bone, but only a small sound came. Once she reached an intersection, she came to a stop, as she felt something on her.

Something on her leg.

Something had grabbed her leg.

_Shit!_

Chloé was suddenly pulled and slammed against the wall, the sheer force sending blinding pain throughout her whole body. When she glanced at it, a long withering bone-looking hand was tightening its grip around her leg, nails digging deep into her flesh. Blood leaked, and panic settles inside of her body. The thought of bleeding while using a miraculous had never occurred to her.

Whirling on her own mass, Chloé hacked off the hand as a massive shriek of pain echoed within the sewer. The not-hacked-off part quickly retreated, but Chloé gave quick chase, ignoring the jolts of pain surging from her leg. Her brain, while she was chasing the rest of the arm, went to a single thought.

 _Why am I bleeding?_ The miraculous magic should be able to protect her from any wound that she may sustain.

She felt Crown’s presence within her mind as she kept running. _“I don’t exactly have the details, but it could be that we are not at the peak of our power yet.”_

 _What do you mean?_ Chloé asked.

Crown once again, chose silence.

 _Hey!_ The blonde screamed but looked at her surroundings.

“ _Fuck._ ” A single whispered word left her mouth.

Bodies were embedded into the wall, their flesh and blood painting everywhere she saw. The bones ripped from their bodies, head rolling around as though they were mere balls. The stench of death had never felt so clear, and the sound of something chewing reached her ears. The blonde looked at the side and saw it.

An octopi-like being devouring some human bodies. One of them was still alive, but Chloé saw, frozen, how she quietly pleaded for help as it chopped her head, swallowing everything in one go. In the center of the being, was a body with a glowing purple outline surrounding it, the center of the debacle, whoever had been taken by it.

Chloé quickly took action, lunging toward the debacle as she readied her sword for a single strike. One of the arm-like tentacles reacted at the second, reaching out and swept the floor. The blonde jumped, and another hand caught her in the air before throwing her toward a bundle of dismembered bodies.

She felt some of her bones cracking, but that might have just been her imagination.

Resisting the urge to vomit on the spot, Chloé moved out of the way as the tentacle lashed out once more, whipping its tentacles toward her, making the bodies where she once was exploded in a red mist, the ground cracking at the mere impact. The blonde’s eyes widened, and uncertainty overtook her for a moment.

Then, she heard the same voice as yesterday.

**_“Don’t fear, do it.”_ **

Chloé exhaled, her once blue eyes shining a white-hue. Her body steeled and moved on its own. Gluttony attacked once more, roaring once it noticed her moving once again. More tentacles attacked, cracking, whipping, and swinging around, trying anything to get to her. One of the tentacles managed to grab her leg, this time, however, Chloé reacted faster and hacked off the tentacle before it could do anything.

In its momentary recoil of pain, Chloé took the advantage and swung her sword two more times, slicing off more tentacles. Gluttony once more recoiled back, the tentacles that are left growing impatient and uncontrollable. They shot toward everywhere, cracks appearing where they hit, bodies exploding when they are struck, bones pulverizing at the mere touch.

Chloé rushed forward, cutting the Gluttony’s body in half. The tentacles soon died, and everything that was left was rubble, death, and destruction.

The blonde quickly began to leave, not wanting to see whom she had killed. The sudden moan of pain and crying made her do otherwise, as she looked over her shoulder to see what happened.

_A child._

The debacle had been a child. A girl. Who Chloé assume had been starving for her to get Gluttony.

Chloé’s breath began to heave in panic as she ran away, the tears of the girl searing into her mind as she left the sewer and went to the Eiffel Tower, but not before detransforming.

She didn’t want to do this anymore. A child had been turned into a monster because of the miraculous, all because of its defense system that had been triggered by a _human._

 _“You know how that can happen,”_ Crown whispered, and Chloé felt him nudging her. _“You know perfectly how to stop all of this.”_

Chloé nodded, as she walked toward Le Grand, eyes vacant from emotion.

For this to stop. . . Hawkmoth needs to **d** i **e**.


	5. Worth of Self pt. 1

* * *

**Worth of Self**

* * *

_Hawkmoth must die. . ._

_“Yes, he needs to die. For the sake of getting one up Ladybug and the other heroes.”_

Not for the sake of anyone else, only for herself. The mindset was anything but a hero’s, but for the one who bears the Kwami of Death, heroism is a lie to create role models, nothing more, nothing less. The mere concept of altruistic humans is laughable, everyone is selfish on some level, is just that Ladybug’s selfishness is well hidden beneath that mask of hers.

“He is wealthy, that’s for sure,” Chloé muttered absentminded, chewing the eraser of the pencil she was holding with mild force, as she stared at the things she had been writing on a notebook she bought coming from the last debacle fight she so desired to forget about.

_“Then, he should not appear often and nobody would question it.”_

Chloé unconsciously nodded at Crown’s words, her blonde hair waving at the gentle breeze coming from the balcony’s small opening. Shifting her weight, she rested her head on her left palm, as she continued to search through her mind for the interactions between all the miraculous holders currently in Paris since there was no reason in looking for the ones in America.

She’d found through Crown that the Box of Miracle once belonged to the Order of the Miraculous, a sect—cult—in China that trained children to protect the miraculous and to loan them to “worthy” souls across the globe to fight magical threats, but they had been killed from the world, disappeared without a trace, and after Miracle Queen, according to the Kwami of Death, the last remnant of it was no longer in this world.

That thought alone was comforting for the blonde. No experienced player in this game, only a madman and wannabe heroes playing on a board of chess.

Leaning back on the chair, and staring at the ceiling, Chloé did a quick recap of what she had written down on the book inside of her mind as the words appeared in white in front of a black void.

_[ Hawkmoth,_

_Appeared on the first day of class, the same day Adrien was given the chance of going to a school and be a normal kid. He wants the miraculous, the Cat and Ladybug, to make a wish of some kind. He seems to be wealthy and has a habit of not appearing in person, which suggest that he normally isn’t seen in public or his job allows him to remain hidden. Mayura should be someone close to him, or someone who works for him, but apparently, the recent fight had left her with what it seems dizzy spells, not allowing her to fight property._

_She hasn’t appeared yet, which means that Hawkmoth once again has the Peacock.]_

A thought popped up inside of Chloé’s mind.

 _Didn’t Adrien say that her mother had dizzy spells before she disappeared?_ It crossed her mind. Chloé knew that there was no way that Emilie would simply leave Adrien out of the blue and so out-of-character. It has always been on her mind ever since the woman disappeared from Adrien’s life—and hers, too. Why would she disappear so suddenly? Magic seemed the most likely answer by the second, and Chloé didn’t like that one bit. 

But. . .

Chloé wanted to find out, badly.

“Hey, Crown.” The blonde called out softly, her voice barely above a whisper, not wanting anyone from outside hearing her words, not even if a Kwami suddenly decided to approach the building to spy on her.

_“Yeah?”_

“The Peacock is broken, right?” The blonde asked, her eyes looking around for something. Crown nodded, and Chloé felt that nod within herself. “Are there any ill-effects of using a broken miraculous?” She knew about the dizzy-spells, but she wanted to know more. Information is power.

 _“Well,”_ Crown began, searching through his mind, and after a few moments, he found an answer. _“For everything I know, the effects can change depending on how broken the miraculous is, but the normal effects are not being in peak power. . . and dizzy spells.”_

Chloé’s face scrunched at the answer but pressed further. “Why do the dizzy spells exactly happen?”

 _“Because the Kwamis are practically pure magic, in a sense.”_ The Kwami explained, already knowing everything Chloé wanted to be answered. _“The human body wasn’t created to withstand such power, and their body develops illness because of it as a warning method. It is like a disease, once it grows too much on you, it can kill you unless you use it through a catalyst, a miraculous jewel, so a fraction of the power—refined and changed for humans—is merely passed onto them and doesn’t affect them at all.”_

Chloé grimaced at the implications. If Emilie had the Peacock once upon a time for some reason that she didn’t have the time for seeking, it would explain the dizzy spells that the woman had before she disappeared, but it wouldn’t explain how she disappeared without anyone noticing once it was too late to know where she had gone.

The woman loved Adrien too much to go be gone without a goodbye, and from what little Chloé could remember of the good old times, she was a very loving mother and the very one she wanted to always be with her.

The heiress was about to ask another question when the sound of something knocking on the balcony reached her ears. Her muscle tensed, and breathing heaved slightly, as she felt her vision blurry for a slight second. A heartbeat thundering her chest filled her eardrums, and her vision went blank for a second before it came back, and Chloé felt better.

Once Chloé whirled around to confirm who it was, she took a sharp breath as her blood boiled beneath her skin.

Ladybug was there. She was there.

There mere thought of being near the Ladybug hero made her blood continue to boil, anger bursting from the depths of her very soul, so much that it almost felt foreign to her. Chloé dulled her increasing wrath and exhaled some of it through her mouth.

The spotted hero, the one whom she had grown to hate for the last days, was standing outside the balcony, watching her with eyes that no normal person could see what emotion those eyes had beneath the mask. But Chloé was no normal person, per se, she was the daughter of the mayor and heiress to Le Grand as well the daughter of the Style Queen—as well as the one who crippled the heroes’ number back to two.

She had learned to read people, how to look for their behavior to know how they act and their weakness.

The eyes Ladybug was glaring daggers at her with were filled with hidden hatred, contempt in those blue eyes that were so different from her own.

But Chloé felt her hatred was bigger than that of the heroine.

Steeling herself for the ensuing confrontation, Chloé glared back at the hero and said nothing—did nothing. After a few seconds of glaring with Ladybug, the blonde sighed, walked up and fully opened the balcony door, and retreated to the desk she had been sitting to put the notebook inside of a drawer. She whirled on her heel, putting her weight to block anyone from reaching the contents of the drawer.

Ladybug walked inside, crossing her arms over her chest. Chloé glanced over her room, and her eyes landed on the door to her room, she narrowed her eyes back at the hero and continued to be in silence. 

_Crown, if I fought Ladybug at the moment, could I win?_ Chloé inquired.

_“No, don’t tempt your limits. Right now we can’t fight a Kwami of Balance, much less two of them. Your mission will be delayed if you get caught.”_

Another beat of silence, until Ladybug spoke.

“Why?” Ladybug asked, voice low and almost wanting to simply rage at the blonde.

“‘Why?’ What?” Chloé questioned, knowing exactly what the heroine wanted to be answered. It was obvious, after all.

“Why would you help Hawkmoth?” Ladybug asked, voice increasing in volume. “Why would you do something that puts Paris in danger? All because of what? Because I didn’t give you the Bee Miraculous when I told you your identity was known, and your family and. . . friends could be in danger if you continued to use it?”

Chloé blinked and snorted at the words of the heroine, so unladylike. “Oh, and I thought you were smarter than that.”

Now it was time for Ladybug to blink, mumbling. “What?” Low and quiet as anger rose in those blue eyes, threatening to spill outside.

“You thought I did all of that because of the miraculous?” Chloé raised an eyebrow, feeling cold washing over her body, extinguishing the fiery flame inside of her soul. Her mind had been cleared from any doubt, there was no point anymore. “Why did I ever looked up to you?”

“This isn’t the time to shift the conversation? What do you mean you didn’t do it because of the miraculous?” Ladybug demanded, stomping over and grip Chloé’s arms into a hold, not allowing her to move. The hero was actually harming Chloé, as bruises quickly appeared on the blonde’s arms, and in any normal situation, the heiress would be panicking at the thought of being harmed.

Chloé, however, was very calm. Eerily calm as she spoke once again. Her blue eyes shining a shade of white dude to the moonlight. “I was ok with you not giving me the miraculous, but when I saw Tsurugi, of all people, having hers. Then, I knew you were full of shit.”

Ladybug said nothing, eyes widening slightly. “What—!?”

The blonde continued, a creepy smile on her face, as she interrupted the hero. “Another person who had her identity known by Hawkmoth, no less, but she was ok to have her miraculous back, but no me? You know, I never hated you, but after that, I knew you were a liar. **_I_**. don’t. **_Like_**. People. **_Lying_**. To. **_Me_** , Ladybug.” The words spoken by Chloé had a different tone, as a ghastly echo followed them.

The hero said nothing, again, but her grip on Chloé had lessened. Ladybug snapped out of it, and her grip came back. It should be hurting her, but Chloé smiled all the same.

“Even if I did lie to you, why would you work with Hawkmoth!? Because of that everyone else was exposed!” Ladybug exclaimed, and something in her eyes changed as she stared at something over Chloé. “Hawkmoth now has the advantage because of you. Are you so petty in your little world that if you don’t have something, no one else can!? Why did I ever think of you worthy of the miraculous in the first place is beyond me.”

Ladybug stopped grabbing Chloé and took a few steps back, staring at the non-hero with hatred almost there to burst forth.

Chloé grinned, teeth gleaming in the light of the moon. “ ** _I_** hate **_you_** , Ladybug.”

The words took the hero aback. Chloé stared at her with wild swirling eyes, a deep-rooted tempest of hatred at everything finally being free.

“I want you gone, I want the miraculous gone from your hands. Yours, Chat’s and Hawkmoth’s. None of you should have it. So I decided, I’ll strive for killing you all, no matter what it cost me. You, the root of all problems in this city, are all going to **_die_** by **_my_** hands. I don’t need your help, I am better than you because at least I am **_human_** above anything else. I am not allowed to be selfish? Well, guess what, I don’t care about anyone’s opinion, I’ll live my life however I want, and no one will stop me. Not you, not Chat, not Hawkmoth, _no one_.”

Chloé’s rant seemed to affect Ladybug, as the hero quickly ran outside and jumped over the railing of the balcony, leaving Chloé staring at her with a crazed face as silence overtook the room. The blonde giggled, and laughed, tears running down her face as she did so, feeling freed from chains she didn’t know she was holding off her own emotions, blood quickly sprouted from her tears, as the blood droplets fell to the floor.

Chloé didn’t seem to mind them, as she slowly moved toward her bed, and threw herself at it, the cold night greeting her skin as her consciousness faded away.

And for a glimpse a second, she saw the museum inside of her head.

**_She was no longer going to play with their rules._ **

**_She wanted them all gone._ **

_(For some reason, that felt like the right thing to do.)_

**Author's Note:**

> yeah, had these idea reading The Menagerie and I just had to write something similar but with my own take on things.


End file.
